The Political Party of West Virginia - Essay Example

?The Political Party of West Virginia (USA) INTRODUCTION West Virginia is regarded as one of the largest and most populous s among other regionsof the United States. In relation to the past few decades, the state has witnessed strong influences from the occurrence of various political movements, such as the Tea Party movement in the year 2009. Recently, the state has also attained the sole attention of other global countries owing to its gradual growth, not only in terms of international exposure, but also in terms of political, social and technological development throughout the previous few decades. The present political system of the state has been identified to have a major bearing upon the development of its socioeconomic position within the global context (Golder Associates Inc, “East Lynn Lake Coal Lease Socioeconomic Baseline Assessment and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis”). PART 1 In relation to the geographical background, West Virginia is located in the Southern region of the US and surrounded by Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Maryland. With abundance of valuable resources to suffice the developmental needs of the state, the state has been able to grasp the attention of other neighboring states and territories within the US. From a historical perspective, the socioeconomic condition of West Virginia has long been witnessed to endure various difficulties and challenges with regard to the development of its demographics, income levels and employment statistics. Moreover, the population trends of the state can also be duly considered as one of the major and growing concerns towards the development of its economy. In relation to the socioeconomic development, the political conditions within the state can be recognized as more fragile in comparison to other US states. According to the present statistics, it can be apparently observed that a majority of the population, i.e. 90% are the Non-Hispanic Whites. Moreover, the present income level of the population has also been identified to face radical changes as compared to other US states. The per capita personal income of the population has been witnessed to prevail under the average income level of the other US states. West Virginia is presently standing at 50th position in respect to its economic stance in the US, which represents a slower movement of income level amid the population (Golder Associates Inc, “East Lynn Lake Coal Lease Socioeconomic Baseline Assessment and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis”). The cultural background of West Virginia demonstrates the prevalence of friendly and helpful environment and the maintenance of a realistic culture that eventually attracts the attention of the global population (Barker, A Study of West Virginia Values and Culture”). PART 2 The most powerful political party in West Virginia can be viewed as the Democratic Party amid the other existing political parties within the state. Primarily, the political environment of the state consists of four independent political parties including Democratic, Libertarian, Mountain and Republican. Although the Republican Party proceeded over the origin of West Virginia, the Democratic Party has been leading the state from the last few decades with efficiency. This Democratic Party is regarded as the most renowned party in West Virginia because of its striving performance in satisfying the developmental needs of the state, rather than rendering prime focus on mitigating the influence of other political parties within the state. With regard to determine the political system efficacy of West Virginia, the Governor of the state can be viewed as the primary figure of the entire political system, irrespective of partisan affiliation (Brisbin 136-148). The US and the State legislature of the Democratic Party has been currently comprising 20 Governor Political Affiliations, 19 State Senate Majority Affiliations along with 22 State House Majority Affiliations and 22 State Attorney General Political Affiliations within the presiding body of the US (Kaiser Family Foundation, “State Political Parties”). The legislature body of the US comprises a number of representatives, which is made up of the House of Senate. The US House of Senate is also known as the Congress and is liable to formulate laws, regulate interstate and overseas trades. Moreover, the body is likely to effectively manage and control taxation as well as spending policies of the nation (U.S. House of Representatives, “Branches of Government”). West Virginia comprises two major legislatures such as Senate and House of Delegates (State of West Virginia, “Your Government”). US Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is presently serving as the Senator of West Virginia who started his tenure as the 34th Governor of the state. Manchin has also served as the Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. His prime responsibilities comprise developing fiscal policies along with creating employment, emphasizing and remaining much committed towards complying with the needs of the senior leaders and the veterans of the state and the nation as well (U.S. House of Representatives, “Branches of Government”). Currently, David McKinley and Shelley Moore Capito from the Republican Party represent West Virginia as the senators of the state. David McKinley is responsible for state-level functioning of energy and commerce management. Correspondingly, Shelley Moore Capito is responsible for managing the financial services operations within the state along with transportation and infrastructural functions. Additionally, Nick Rahall has also been selected by the state of West Virginia as the only senator from the Democratic party. Nick Rahall is also a member in the committee assignment within the transportation and infrastructure division (United States House of Representatives, “Directory of Representatives”). The major branches of the US legislature comprises certain organizations that encompass Architect of the Capitol (AOC), Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Government Accountability Office (GAO), Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records Administration, Government Printing Office (GPO), Office of Compliance, Library of Congress (LOC) and U.S. Senate (U.S. House of Representatives, “Branches of Government”). The Congressional is also regarded as one of the major legislature bodies, which play a foremost role of sharing responsibilities of each legislative process performed within the nation. There are basically two major parties in staff office, viz. Republican and Democratic comprising the US’s Senate. Moreover, the Senate also incorporates the participation of major third parties including Constitution Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party, Independents and others (U.S. House of Representatives, “Branches of Government”). The parties in the State House of Representatives of West Virginia comprise the majority of the Democratic Veterans. During the year 2010, Senator Joe Manchin was elected with 53.5% of the total votes by defeating Sheirl Fletcher in the Democratic Primary Election (U.S. House of Representatives, “Branches of Government”). The State House of Representatives within the US is comprised of 232 seats for Republicans and 200 for Democrats (Office of the Clerk, “Congressional Profile”). With respect to the state government policy of West Virginia, various strict policies and regulations regarding work laws, taxation, abortion, healthcare and drugs can be viewed to have been formulated (U.S. House of Representatives, “Branches of Government”). These policies have been elaborated precisely in the following discussion. The employment or work law of West Virginia focuses the policy of employment-at-will doctrine, which generally incorporates basic provisions of employment within different public and private institutions of the state. The provisions mentioned under the employment-at-will doctrine provide adequate rights in terms of terminating working individuals with or without any valid reason. The employment-at-will consist basic exceptions of contractual principles, public policies, statutory exceptions of the state and Federal statutory provisions and exceptions (Moore 1-28). The taxation guidelines of West Virginia comprise a well-build structure that incorporates state and local tax payers of the state. With regard to the state and local taxes of the year 2007, it has been identified that the adoption of family tax credit for the low-income group population is a major consideration to increase the revenue of the state. Moreover, reducing sales-tax rate, corporate income-tax rate and obligatory practice of combined reporting can also be identified to significantly improve the present business and commercializing position of the state to a substantial extent (Davis, Davis, Gardner, McIntyre, McLynch & Sapozhnikova 1-122). The provisions associated with abortion have long been witnessed as one of the highly debated issues in West Virginia. The present sociological debates within the state associated with abortion significantly nurture severe controversial arguments against the law that protects women’s decision to abort their pregnancy (Guttmacher Institute, “An Overview of Abortion Laws”). According to the present healthcare statistics, the policies underneath the healthcare regulations ensure to provide equal and appropriate healthcare benefits to the uninsured individuals and families within the state. The modern healthcare policies of the state have further been identified to cover young adults, children and women along with old age population within the state. In order to raise the efficiency of the present healthcare services of the public along with the private institutions, the policy of covering preventive services for each individual, irrespective of demographic background, can be viewed to develop the health conditions of the state population to a substantial extent (National Women’s Law Center and State Partners, “Women and the Health Care Law in West Virginia”). The major newspapers in West Virginia tend to deliver valuable information to the general public regarding the steps that were taken by the state to develop any particular sphere along with the conduct of various global events. In this regard, a few of the highly recognized newspapers of the state are ‘The Register Herald’, ‘The Charleston Gazette’, ‘The Herald-Dispatch’ and ‘Charleston Daily Mail’ among others (Marshall University, “Media and Press”). PART 3 The influence of Tea Party movement 2009 has significantly impacted the political system of West Virginia concerning the policies and practices performed by the governmental bodies belonging to the state. Moreover, the movement also influenced the political parties such as the Republican and the Democratic Party of West Virginia at large. The movement has been apparently observed towards advocating the management and controlling of financial resources within the state. The major influence of the movement in West Virginia has been witnessed to align with the existing political comportment towards the improvement of the measures undertaken, leading to change in fiscal deficit policies. Therefore, it can be affirmed from a broader outlook that the movement has radically made the government impose feasible measures for improving the statistics of federal debt along with developing the managing capability of the financial resources. In relation to the involvement of the political parties in the Tea Party Movement 2009, the participation of Republicans can also be correspondingly witnessed. In this similar concern, massive increase of governmental spending along with certain crucial issues including import activities, eradicating educational departments, and environment protection regulations can be critically recognized to influence the political system of the state by the Tea Party movement 2009. In this regard, the influence of Tea Party movement 2009 particularly upon the political parties such as the Republicans and the Non-Tea Party Republicans can be critically identified through the following graphical representation. Fig. 2: Percentage of Republicans (Tea Party and Non-Tea Party) taking Conservative Position on Different Federal Issues Source: (Rapoport, Dost, Lovell & Stone, “Republican Factionalism and Tea Party Activists”) Additionally, the Tea Party movement 2009 had also been observed to stimulate significant changes within the policies regarding governmental spending along with regulations towards the improvement of national deficit. Therefore, it can be identified that the Republican Party of the US has also influenced by the Tea Party movement of 2009. The presiding government of the nation has also taken certain crucial measures in addressing the concerns advocated by the movement (Rapoport, Dost, Lovell & Stone, “Republican Factionalism and Tea Party Activists”). While evaluating the movement, it can be apparently observed that the different issues raised in the Tea Party movement, have imposed considerable impact on the political system of the US. The movement has remarkably influenced the performance of the Republican Party. However, the year of election 2012 has changed the overall scenario of the movement and the performance of the Republicans. During 2012 election, the election rate was estimated as 57.3% of the total voting age population, which increased as compared to the election rate in the year 2008. However, the overall number of the voter turnout has also been identified to face a significant decline in relation to the voter turnout level recorded for the year 2008 (Rapoport, Dost, Lovell & Stone, “Republican Factionalism and Tea Party Activists”). A brief observation of the voter statistics, including voting-age population, voter registration, voter turnout and turnout of voting-age population of the last five years have been provided hereunder. Year Voting-Age Population Voter Registration Voter Turnout Turnout of Voting-Age Population 2012* 239,405,657 197,828,022 126,000,000 57.5 % *Estimate 2008 231,229,580 182,578,209 132,618,580 56.8 % 2004 221,256,931 174,862,732 122,294,978 55.3 % 2000 205,815,000 156,421,311 105,586,274 51.3 % 1996 196,511,000 146,211,960 96,456,345 49.1 % Fig. 3: Voter Statistics of the Last Five U.S. Presidential Elections Source: (West Virginia Secretary of State, “Election Results Center”) In this similar context, it can be viewed that the involvement of the third party members, including libertarian and green party along with the impact of Tea Party Movement of 2009 played a decisive role for the Republican Party in accomplishing a considerable growth in voting-age population within West Virginia. Moreover, it has also been observed the involvement of the congressman, Bill Maloney, which had also increased the significance of the movement to achieve the desired objectives (Politico, “Tomblin, Maloney win in West Virginia”). The issues associated with import, eradicating educational departments along with extensive government spending and taxation has also radically imposed considerable impacts on the Democratic Party members to achieve an influential position in 2012 election. In this context, it has also been identified that the Democratic Party of the nation was also influenced by the Tea-Party Movement (West Virginia Secretary of State, “Election Results Center”). Based on the above discussion, it can be affirmed from a broader outlook that the Tea Party movement not only influenced the political conditions of West Virginia, but also influenced the activities that perform by the political parties such as the Republican and the Democratic towards the overall development of the state. Although the Republican Party has been identified to obtain a large number of seats in the 2012 Presidential Election, the party was unable to lead as the governing body of the US. The following result of the Presidential Election of 2012 depicts the total votes of the candidates elected for the US president from both Democratic and Republican Party. Fig. 4: The Voting Result of the Presidential Election 2012 of both Democratic and Republican Party Source: (West Virginia Secretary of State, “Election Results Center”) CONCLUSION From the overall analysis, it has been evident that West Virginia has gradually improved its socio-economic along with political position in the current years, as compared to its historical performances. In relation to the present day context, the political stability and the striving performance of the state governmental bodies within West Virginia have significantly developed the present economic and social conditions of the state. The political system of West Virginia has been further observed to make transformational changes in relation to its trade performance, educational departments and healthcare facilities among others. Moreover, the continuous deregulation of trade barriers along with greater openness in importing activities can also be observed to play an imperative role for the state to stabilize its economic conditions at large. In relation to the overall discussion of the report, it has been identified that the political condition of the state has been experiencing significant concerns associated with various influencing factors. In this context, the Tea Party movement of the year 2009 can be duly considered as one of the major influencing factors in developing the present political condition of West Virginia. The movement carried various influences in the policies of both Democratic and Republic Parties and subsequently, enabled them to proactively act with various crucial issues. These issues have been identified to be associated with governmental spending along with import related activities, constraints in educational developments and environmental protection based regulations. 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Moore, Brian J. “Labor and Employment Law.” Handbook, (2010): 1-28. Print. “Women and the Health Care Law in West Virginia.” Improving Women’s Health. National Women’s Law Center and State Partners, 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. “Congressional Profile.” U.S. House of Representatives. Office of the Clerk, 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. “Tomblin, Maloney win in West Virginia”. Governors' races. Politico, 2011. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. Rapoport, Ronald B., Meredith Dost, Ani-Rae Lovell & Walter J. Stone. Republican Factionalism and Tea Party Activists. Political Parties and Interest Mobilization in American Politics,(2011): 1-43. Print. “Your Government.” National Elected Officials. State of West Virginia, 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. “Directory of Representatives.” Representatives. U.S. House of Representatives, 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. “Branches of Government.” The House Explained. U.S. House of Representatives, 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. “Election Results Center.” Elections. West Virginia Secretary of State, 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. Read More